I would really like to start using Markdown. Unfortunately most of my friends are not cool enough to use Dreamwidth, so I am dependent on crossposting, so this issue makes Markdown use impossible for me. It should be a very small patch; my guess when I looked at it was under 10 lines, though proper error-handling and comments and such will bump it up some.
I would really like to start using Markdown. Unfortunately most of my friends are not cool enough to use Dreamwidth, so I am dependent on crossposting, so this issue makes Markdown use impossible for me. It should be a very small patch; my guess when I looked at it was under 10 lines, though proper error-handling and comments and such will bump it up some.
(Secondary prompt: The Time Lords)
The fifth round is still in progress, but already signups have begun for the sixth in
The Livejournal Version
The Dreamwidth Version
Remember - all fanworks of whatever form are more than welcome!
Title:
Ability to freeze comments to an entry
Area:
entries, managing comments
Summary:
I think it'd be useful to have the ability to freeze <i>all</i> comments to an entry at once, instead of manually doing so.
Description:
Occasionally, you want to disable the ability of people to leave comments without destroying those already there, and quite frankly, going through and manually freezing each thread is a) time consuming, and b) a little annoying. If there was a way to mass-freeze all threads so that new comments couldn't be added, it'd be useful. The options to delete, screen, and unscreen en masse are already there, after all. I'd be a whole lot more likely to mass freeze all comments rather than delete them, but I have the functionality to do the latter and not the former
This suggestion:
Should be implemented as-is.![]()
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43 (79.6%)
Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)![]()
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2 (3.7%)
Shouldn't be implemented.![]()
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0 (0.0%)
(I have no opinion)![]()
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6 (11.1%)
(Other: please comment)![]()
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3 (5.6%)
Title:
Option for Blind Polls Until Closed
Area:
Polls
Summary:
Allow an option for polls to not show their results until after they're closed.
Description:
I've noticed that seeing how voting has gone so far in a poll can affect the poll outcome. It would be wonderful if a poll could be blind to everyone, or just to everyone but the creator, until the poll closes. This would be an option and not a requirement for polls.
Basically, we've found that polls that were supposed to gage a measure of change in a character to obtain a new status ended up being nothing more than popularity polls. (Yes, it's an RPG.) Even though there are suggestions in the works to improve the poll, the suggestions I can come up with still have an element of becoming a popularity poll as people can still view current results before voting themselves. Only a truly blind poll could really alleviate this issue. I'm sure other types of communities would also use this option. The rest of the poll options would stay the same, including what results would be seen, but the results still would not be shown until the poll is closed. Basically, it'd reflect how we do voting in everyday life (elections, closed ballots, etc).
That way, polls would more closely represent individuals choices and not have their opinions influenced by others. (Also, the surprise element is fun!) It wouldn't prevent users from talking amongst themselves on whom they voted on, but it'd be closer to how voting works outside of Dreamwidth.
This suggestion:
Should be implemented as-is.![]()
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56 (91.8%)
Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)![]()
![]()
1 (1.6%)
Shouldn't be implemented.![]()
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0 (0.0%)
(I have no opinion)![]()
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4 (6.6%)
(Other: please comment)![]()
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0 (0.0%)
Title:
Handling alt text with emailed images
Area:
entries, images, post by email, accessibility
Summary:
Development (mostly Mark & Fu) intend to improve the workflow of posting images, and I'm the one tagged to post this bit for suggestions discussion. :) Specific to this discussion: adding alt text to a single image that is attached to an emailed entry. We call upon the collective creativity of the dw_suggestions community: how should it work?
Description:
The existing post-by-email optional/extra/advanced features are documented:
http://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/emailp
http://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/emailp
Should the alt text take the form of another "post" command at the top, like one of these two:
post-alt: image's alt text goes here
post-image: image's alt text goes here
Should it be done another way? If so, how?
This suggestion:
Should be implemented as-is.![]()
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6 (23.1%)
Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)![]()
![]()
2 (7.7%)
Shouldn't be implemented.![]()
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0 (0.0%)
(I have no opinion)![]()
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18 (69.2%)
(Other: please comment)![]()
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0 (0.0%)
Title:
Send error if you try to email post from the wrong address
Area:
email posting
Summary:
Don't fail silently on email posting - show an error message somewhere with an explanation.
Description:
If you try to email a post to your journal, there is a setting that lists the email addresses that are allowed to do this. If you have multiple email addresses, and accidentally send it from one that's not one of the three on http://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/settin
Instead of failing silently with no clues, you should get a notification of some sort to let you know it happened and give you a clue why. This should include appropriate caveats about telling Support or improving your security if it wasn't you that did it, and could go either to your Inbox, to your main email, or to the email you tried from, whichever is considered to be most secure.
This suggestion:
Should be implemented as-is.![]()
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12 (46.2%)
Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)![]()
![]()
1 (3.8%)
Shouldn't be implemented.![]()
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0 (0.0%)
(I have no opinion)![]()
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13 (50.0%)
(Other: please comment)![]()
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0 (0.0%)
Title:
Set default country according to IP
Area:
Shop
Summary:
When making purchases in the shop, it would be nifty if your country could be defaulted to a best guess based on IP.
Description:
It would be a minor convenience feature, and might involve quite a lot of work/hassle/complexity... but I thought I'd throw it out there in case somebody says "oh, that'd be easy actually" :-)
Drawbacks: Slowdown as the lookup is done; don't know whether this would be significant. Maybe there are some situations in which people would be offended by an incorrect guess?
This suggestion:
Should be implemented as-is.![]()
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5 (13.2%)
Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)![]()
![]()
1 (2.6%)
Shouldn't be implemented.![]()
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17 (44.7%)
(I have no opinion)![]()
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15 (39.5%)
(Other: please comment)![]()
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0 (0.0%)
Title:
Review the countries that are at the top of the "country" dropdown in the shop
Area:
Shop
Summary:
When paying by credit card in the DW shop, one specifies one's country in a drop-down. This drop-down is alphabetically sorted except for United States, which appears at the top.
Suggestion is to review which countries appear at the top.
Description:
It is fairly common for such dropdowns to promote a few most-common countries out of their alphabetical order and put them at the top of the list.
The Dreamwidth Shop does this with United States.
My suggestion is to review which countries appear at the top in this way: are there others that hold a sufficiently large proportion of the DW paid userbase to merit this treatment? I suggest that 3-5 of the most common countries should appear here, and that a separator should then be inserted in the list to make it clearer what is going on.
This suggestion:
Should be implemented as-is.![]()
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21 (52.5%)
Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)![]()
![]()
0 (0.0%)
Shouldn't be implemented.![]()
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4 (10.0%)
(I have no opinion)![]()
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14 (35.0%)
(Other: please comment)![]()
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1 (2.5%)
(For some California local definition of 'morning'!)
About 30 minutes ago one of our databases (sb-db03) locked up and stopped serving traffic. This was an active database, so the site quickly stopped when it could no longer serve requests. Alas.
I have failed us over to a backup database and now everything should be working again.
I'm not sure yet what happened to db03, but am currently investigating and will update this post if I come up with a root cause for the problem. Edit: It's back up and doesn't have any visible problems. Disks are fine, data's intact, etc. The graphs and logs show nothing. We'll have to keep an eye on it and see if it manifests further issues.
Sorry for the trouble, please let me know if you still see any problems!
I've been enjoying the slow disconnection from everything. I'm not completely disconnected yet: free wifi hotspots are everywhere so I get online in the evenings and while waiting to check in or board...
But I've not been following along or catching up to scrollback or trying too hard to catch anyone :) just... Letting things flow and catching whatever comes my way.
Tomorrow will be completely disconnected (or so I hope) for a week. Wouldn't have believed it five years ago or maybe even two... But I am actually looking forward to this (with a few crucial exceptions where I hope email will tide me over).
So, tell me about what happened the past three months, please? I really want to know. And I will share my news with you all soon. Missed you.

Just to make sure, however, four days ago I asked Steam Support for an update on what would happen nowadays for people that were in my position.
( These are my three contributions to the Support ticket. )The main question I asked in this ticket was this (emphasis added):
If someone else were in the same situation as I was two years ago, having had a legal name change (with evidence in the form of legally-recognised documentation such as a deed poll or statutory declaration), a username which was clearly based on their old name, and a clean VAC record, would Valve be willing to change the account name upon the submission of such evidence? (For the purposes of this question, 'change the account name' may also include creation of a new account and all licences registered on the old account transferred to the new one, as that was how my own ticket was resolved.)Now, I realise that this is a pretty narrow field. This was intentional in order to increase the chances that they might be receptive. I do realise that there are trans* people out there who don't meet these criteria. Policy changes always have to start somewhere, though, and I understand the issues involved. I figured that if any policy change at all had been made, this narrow definition would fit inside it.
Today, they responded. (In fact, it was Walter who responded; the same person who replied in the other ticket to assist me with transferring the games.)
So, what was their answer?
4 Message by Support Tech Walter on Thu, 16th May 2013 8:26 pmDisappointing, to say the least. There is still no reasoning given for not being able to change account names, besides the very vague "this is for security reasons". (To be fair, I didn't actually ask for an explanation in this ticket, but still.)
Hello Sophie,
We have not changed any policies regarding account names. As mentioned in your original ticket, this is for security reasons.
While we understand this is a frustration for you, we have this in place by design. There are no plans to change this at this time, however I have passed your comments on to the appropriate people.
I'm really disappointed by Valve right now. :(

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